-=jd=- wrote:

On 01 Jul 2003, craigm wrote:

Joe Strain wrote:

...snip...
snip
I have now strung the whole affair up. As previously stated,
except that from the 14' post at the house to only about 8' up
the the tree for now (I'll need a sling-shot to hit the 30'
mark). Even so, the difference is remarkable!


I used to use a sling shot - I've found it's easier to launch my antennas by tossing a 5 ounce lead fishing weight with some fishing line over a branch, and then pulling up my rope. It's even easier if you know someone who used to be a pitcher. "The
strike zone is that fork about 35 feet up."

snip
So I'm wondering if a balun is a waste of time on a random wire
for SWL only. At least, in the case of Joe Listener just
sticking a length of wire up - not in the case of big beverages
or some other "formal" (lack of a better word) antenna rig...

JD


Baluns do improve impedance matching, but just having the ferrite they're normally wound on close to the coax will help reduce RFI too.

With an outdoor antenna, most of the RFI you're picking up is probably finding it's way to the antenna on the shield of the coax. The ferrite acts like a choke to help filter it out.

Regards,

Mark